Voters in a state
that went decisively for the president's rival in the 2000 election
support the president
now by margin of almost 2-1. According to the most recent Fairleigh
Dickinson University poll, 62% of Garden State voters rate President
Bush's job performance as "excellent" or "good." A smaller majority
of New Jersey voters are optimistic about the direction of the nation,
with 55% saying the country is "on the right track."

"New Jerseyans are likely giving Bush
credit for what they perceive as the successful prosecution of the
war in Iraq," said Dr. Bruce Larson, professor of political science
at Fairleigh Dickinson University and a survey analyst. "But these
numbersnot stratospheric to begin withcould well come
down as the military conflict in Iraq subsides and voters begin focusing
on the sluggish economy."

Four of five New
Jersey voters say the recent war in Iraq went better than they expected.
And two-thirdscomparable
to the number who rate the President's job as good or excellentsay
the United States did the right thing in going to war with Iraq.

Voters are more worried about terrorism
than they are about the recently reported spread of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS): 40% say they are very or somewhat worried
about terrorism while only 29% say they are very or somewhat worried
about becoming a SARS victim.

A majority of voters believe the federal
and state governments are doing everything they can to prevent terrorist
activity. Meanwhile, most voters say they have taken no particular
precautions against the event of a terrorist attack.

On most measures, men are significantly
more optimistic than women. Men are more likely than women to give
the President high marks, to think the country is on the right track,
and to say the war in Iraq was the right thing to do. Men are also
less worried than women about terrorism and more confident than women
that the federal government is doing all it can to prevent attacks.
Women are more likely than men to have taken precautions against
a terror attack and to say they are worried about another attack
and about SARS.

The PublicMind
poll of 820 registered voters was conducted from April 12 through
April
19 and has a margin
of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.